Automotive manufacturers are driven to design light weight vehicle with increased crash performance and reduced fuel consumption. The manufacturers have transitioned from a usage of mild steels for vehicle components to advanced high strength steels, ultra-high strength steels, and aluminum. Hot stamping processes for vehicle components can create fully martensitic structures. Hot stamping processes may create vehicle components with undesirable qualities. For example, hot stamping processes may result in vehicle components having joining issues, structural rigidity issues, and deformation issues when subjected to an impact.
This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems and other problems as summarized below.